[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E173-E174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING MR. JAMIE WILLIS FOR HIS SERVICE TO OUR NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROGER WILLIAMS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 12, 2020

  Mr. WILLIAMS. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a great Texan and United 
States Army veteran, Jamie Willis of Copperas Cove, Texas.
   Since 2016, Jamie has run Canes for Veterans Central Texas, an 
organization that creates free walking sticks for veterans in need.

[[Page E174]]

   While serving our country overseas as a cavalry scout in Operation 
Desert Storm, Jamie was involved in an accident that left him briefly 
paralyzed and now disabled, and wrestling with severe depression and 
PTSD. When he returned home, he would travel to the local VA for 
treatment where he was issued a cane to use that never held up. So, he 
decided to make his own out of repurposed Christmas trees.
   An effort that started out as a necessity three years ago has now 
grown to a team of 60 volunteers who have made more than 220 canes. 
Jamie says crafting these canes is his true calling and they have 
brought him back from the brink of taking his own life--and he has 
changed the lives of those around him.
   I want to honor Jamie today and thank him on behalf of the 25th 
District of Texas for his continued service to our nation. In God we 
trust.

                          ____________________